Congress OKs bill to overhaul Medicare fees

WASHINGTON (AP) - Legislation permanently overhauling how Medicare pays physicians won approval Tuesday from an atypically united Congress as lawmakers banded together to erase an irritant that has dogged them for years.

Adding urgency to legislators' work, the measure headed off a 21 percent cut in doctors' Medicare fees that would have hit home Wednesday, when the government planned to begin processing physicians' claims reflecting that reduction. The bill also provides billions of extra dollars for health care programs for children and low-income families, including additional money for community health centers.

Working into the evening, the Senate approved the measure 92-8 less than three weeks after the House passed it by a lopsided 392-37.

"It's a milestone for physicians, and for the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare for their health care needs," President Barack Obama said in a written statement after the vote. He added, "I will be proud to sign it into law."

Conservatives were unhappy that two-thirds of the bill's $214 billion, 10-year costs were financed by simply making federal deficits even bigger, while liberals wanted added money for children and women's programs. Eager to demonstrate his party's ability to efficiently run the Senate they've controlled since January, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., defended the measure.

"It's another reminder of a new Republican Congress that's back to work," he said. "And while no bill will ever be perfect, this legislation is a sensible compromise with wide bipartisan support."

Top Democrats also expressed support for the legislation.

"This is a significant and hard won achievement that will ensure better quality health care and certainty for millions of seniors and children," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

The bill marks a tandem effort by Democrats and Republicans at a time when the two parties are far likelier to block each other's initiatives.

All eight "no" votes came from Republicans, including some of their most conservative members. Among presidential hopefuls, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., voted against the bill, while Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted for it.

The bill's chief feature was its annulling of a 1997 law aimed at slowing the growth of Medicare that has repeatedly threatened deep cuts in reimbursements to physicians and led to threats by doctors to stop treating the program's beneficiaries. Congress has blocked 17 reductions since 2003, an exercise that invites intense lobbying and difficult choices about finding budget savings that both parties detested.

Instead, the measure would create a new payment system with financial incentives for physicians to bill Medicare patients for their overall care, not individual office visits.

While Democrats touted the legislation's added funds for children and the poor, Republicans were claiming victory in changes the bill makes in Medicare that would have a long-term though modest impact on the huge program's finances.